To mitigate something is to make it less severe, harmful, or painful. You don’t remove the problem completely, but you reduce its impact.
From Latin “mitigare,” meaning “to soften, alleviate, make mild,” from “mitis,” “soft, gentle,” and “agere,” “to do or make.” It entered English through Late Latin and Old French.
Mitigate is a ‘softening’ word at its core—it’s literally about making something gentler. That’s why we talk about mitigating risks or damage, not deleting them, but softening their blow.
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